Improvement in locks



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

ER. LAWSH, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59.615, dated November13, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ER. LAWsH, of Atlanta, in the county of Fulton andState of Georgia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Locks;and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to makeand use the sanne, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

By the present invention a lock is produced which is especiallyapplicable for use upon frei ght-cars, although it can be applied toother and various purposes, the obj ect being to combine with the lock atablet or other suitable means, in such a manner that by the locking ofthe bolt such tablet will be so operated by the key used, or through thelocking mechanism, as to expose such portion of its face to view as ismarked to correspond to the destination which the freight-car is to haveupon which the lock is used-as, for instance,`whethe'r its freight orload is Way77 or through, or for this or that station along the line ofthe railroad over which the car may be run; and, in addition to theabove, I also so arrange the indicating-tablet, together with thelocking mechanism of the lock, that one lock may be used both for wayand through freight, or for any two stations upon the rail or other roador route.

Having thus in general terms stated the principal features of thepresent invention, I will now proceed to describe the same in detail,reference beinghad to the accompanying plate of drawings, in whichMFigure 1 is a view of the front plate of the' lock with its tabletindicating way freight, Fig. 2, a similar view to Fig. l, but with thetablet indicating through freight; Fig. 3, a view of the lock with itsfront plate removed and its casing in section, showing the internalarrangement of locking mechanism, together with a key for operating thesame, as well also as the tablet-'for indicating way freight; Fig. 4, atransverse vertical section through the lock, taken in the plane of theline 0e, Fig. 3; Figs. 5 and 6, views of the inner or under side or faceof the front plate of the lock, showing the arrangement of the tablet,and in both of its positions to indicate way lor through freight,respectively; Figs. Tand 8, views of keys adapted to the lock, the onefor way and the other through freight; Figs. 9, l0, and l1, detacheddetail views of portions of the locking mechanism of the lock.

A in the drawings represents the casing or box of the lock, which casingis of the form of the ordinary padlocks, and has hung to its upper sideor edge one end of a swinging bow or shackle, B, that, at its other end,is adapted to receive the bolt of the locking mechanism when saidshackle or hasp is inserted in the lock-easing and brought to the properposition therein for the bolt to engage with it O, the bolt hereinabovereferred to, which bolt is arranged between iXed parallel ways orguideplates a a, extending across from one upright plate, b, to theother, b2, secured to the inside Of the back plate, D, of thelock-casing, and in position parallel to each other, the plane ofmovement of the bolt being across that of the hasp or shackle to thelock.

With the tail end l of the bolt O is engaged the forked or pronged end cof a bent spring, F, this spring, at its other end, being hung upon andxed to a stationary stud or pin, G, of the lockcasing. Between the twoends of the spring F one arm, H, of an angular or crankshaped lever, I,is hung to it, which lever I, by the extreme end of its other arm, J,turns upon a center pivot or fulcrum, f, of the lock-casing. This arm Jof the lever I is made of a curved shape in the direction of its length,with its curved side toward the central pin K of the lockcasing, onwhich the key turns, so that when a suitablekey is placed upon such pinand turned in the proper direction-that is, toward the curved arm J -itwill, by its bit, strike the same, and, turning it on its fulcrum, thus,through its connection with the bolt, move or slide the same in its waysor guides in a direc tion corresponding thereto, which is such as torelease it from the shackle or hasp bar of the lock, setting it free,when, by the action of the springarm L upon the inside of thelock-casing and bearing against the said hasp, it is thrown out of thelock-casing.

The bolt, at its end which engages with the hasp-bar, is rounded uponits edge toward the hasp-bar, so that when such bar is forced into thelock-casing it can slip or pass down over the bolt, at the same timemoving it back, when, the hole in the hasp-bar having come opposite tothe said bolt, the bolt, by its spring F, hereinbefore referred to, isthen thrown forward and engaged with it, thus locking. it, to unlockwhich it requires the use of a suitable key therefor.

From the above it is plain to be understood that the arrangement of thelocking mechanism, so far as at present explained, is such that the lockis self-locking, and in this respect is similar in operation to theordinary self-locking padlocks.

Mis asecondary or supplementary bolt, made of the form shown in Fig. 9ofthe drawings. This bolt is placed. over and about the principal boltG, extending by its sides N and projecting pieces or gating O about andover the outside faces of the upper and lower plates a, respectively. P,a spring bearing against the upper edge of supplementary bolt M.

The gating O of the supplementary bolt, both above and below theguide-plates a, is similar to each other, and also to the gating Q ofthe principal or main bolt G.

The upper ed ge, R, of the supplementary bolt is notched at two points,7L and t', to engage with which, according tothe position that the saidbolt occupies, as will be presently eX- plained, a spring-pawl, S, ishung in the lockcasing in Suitable position therefor, as well also as tobe operated by the crank-lever as it is turned or swung by the action ofthe key used in the look, this crank-lever bearing against thecircular-shaped edge l of the pawl S, and swinging` it upward, and thusreleasing it from the notch of the bolt with which it may be engaged.

With a lock having its lookin g mechanism arranged in the manner abovedescribed, if a..

key such as is represented in Fig. 7 be used, and, after being-insertedin the key-hole of the lock, turnedA toward the right, it will by itsbit operate against the crank-lever, and thus, through its connectionwith the principal or main bolt, drawit back, releasing the lockshackleor hasp, which, 'as before explained, is instantly thrown out of thelock-easing by the spring-arm L, when, the bit having passed by thecrank-lever, the bent spring F then throws the bolt back to its originalposition.

If, however, a key be used such as is vshown in Fig. 8, and, after beinginsertedin the keyhole of the lock, turned toward the loft, its bit,first acting against the crank-lever I, will, through it, draw back thelock-bolt, and also raise the spring-pawl S, when, continuing to turnit, its bit will strike against the gating of' the supplementary bolt,carrying such bolt along with it toward the left, while at the sametime-the key-bit, gradually moving away from the crank-lever, allows thebent spring F to throw such bolt back to its original posi- A tion-thatis, also toward the left-when, the

key having passed by the gating, both bolts are then left in a positionfor engaging with the shackle or hasp-bar, the lock being unlocked, whenits locking mechanism is in theposition above stated, by means of' thesame key, but

by turning it in the opposite direction to that for locking the lock, asis obvious without any further explanation.

Thus, from the above description, it is plainly apparent that if thelock be locked with the key shown in Fig. 8, which, as explained, movesthe supplementary bolt, it can only be unlocked with that key, the keyshown in Fig. 7, if used in such a case, producing no effect upon thesupplementary bolt, it simply moving the principal bolt C, whereby thelock,if used upon a freight-car which is loaded with through freight,can be so locked as to prevent it being unlocked at any of the many waystations along the railroad, provided that the key shown in Fig. 8 beused, and that, furthermore, such keys are only in the possession ofpersons at terminal stations along the road, and not in the possessionof persons at any of the way stations.

By this' means the safety of freight transported over the line ofrailways is more fully and perfectly insured; and in case the freight orload of any through car, when it has arrived at its place of destinationor the terminus of the railroad by which it is transported, should, inbeing unloaded at such station, fall or be checked short, the personresponsible for such deficiency can be with more certainty anddeiiniteness ascertained or determined, from the fact that asno personat way stations was furnished with a through key, it is primefacieevidence that the deficiency could not have been produced while thetrain was in transita, but must have occurred at the station or placewhere the car was loaded.

In the use of my improved locks it is best to mark the two keys whichare adapted to the lock with a letter or letters sufficient to indicatewhich they are, whether a through or a way key-as, for instance, by theletters T7 and W, respectively, as plainly shown'in the drawings.

In order that the lock may indicate when locke-d to a freight-car thedestination of the car, whether way or through, I have conibined withthe lock a tablet or plate, T, on which is painted, engraved, printed,or in any other propermannermarked the words Way 7 and Through,7 withthe latter abbreviated, and below the former, and the one in black andthe other in red letters, so as to be the more readily distinguished andread.

This tablet T is placed upon the inside of the look, back of the frontplate ot' the lockoasing, on which it is arranged to slide, moving inand between parallel guide cleats or strips ZZ of the same, the saidfront plate being sufficiently cut away at Uto expose the words upon thetablet to View, but only one at a time, when either one or the other isbrought in line with such opening (as will be soon described) bytheoperation of locking the lock.

This tablet .plays or moves in a plane at right angles to the movementof the lock-bolt, and at its lower end rests against the lower edge ofthe lock casing or box, the word Way being exposed to view at theopening Uin the front plate of the lock when 4the tablet is in suchposition, this position of the tablet being shown in front view in Fig.l, and in back view in Fig. 5, of the drawings.

To the back side or face of the tablet T a spring pawl or catch, V, ishung, that at its hook end m, when the tablet is down, rests against theunder side of the fixed or stationary staple n of the front plate; butwhen the tablet is raised up to the position shown in Fig. 6 that is, soas to have its word Through exposed to view engages with the upper edgeofthe staple n, as plainly shown in the drawings,Fig. 6 more especially.

The tail end 0 of the pawl projects beyond the side or edge of thetablet toward the keyhole sufficiently for the bit of the throughkey,which is suitably constructed or formed therefor, to abut against it asthe keyis turned, and, releasing its hook end from the. under side ofthe staple a, leave the tablet free to be raised with the key-bit bycontinuing the motion of the key, when, the spring-pawl becoming engagedwith the staple u upon its upper edge, the tablet is there held andprevented from falling as the turning of the key is con-- tinued.

Thus, it is obvious that by the arrangement of the tablet at thesametime that the lock is locked with the through-key the said tablet is sooperated as to expose its word Through to view, in which position itremains until the lock is unlocked by the through-key, which operationreleases t-he spring-pawl and allows the tablet to fall sufficiently toexpose its word Tay to view; the way-key, when the tablet has its wordThrough7 exposed, not being disturbed in position by the turning of suchkey in the lock, nor is the lock, as has been hereinbefore stated, thensusceptible of being unlocked by the same. i

WVith a lock of thc construction hereinabove particularly explained,having a tablet arranged in it, as described, especially when such alock is used upon freight-cars, the destination of the freight or loadof the several cars, whether, for instance, it is way or through,7 canbe indicated with the lock itself, by locking them with the proper keyto expose to view the word Way or Through77 of the tablet, according asmay be required or desired, the import-ance of which, in connection withthe management of railways, is obvious to all conversant with the same,the lock, besides, possessing many other advantages, among which may behere mentioned as the inost important, first, that the lock, by itsconstruction and arrangement of parts, is as firm, strong, reliable, andas secure against picking or breaking as any lock heretofore generallyused for railroad-cars; second, that when locked with the through-keythe hasp is firmly and strongly held and secured, and is much moredifficult to be picked than other locks; third, that the use of seals onthrough cars is entirely dispensed with, since the lock cannot beunlocked when its tablet shows or indicates Through without athrough-key is used, thus increasing the safety of through freight, andenabling the loss of or deciency in such freight to be more easilydetected and its cause ascertained or determined 5 fourth, that the lockis simple in the construction and arrangement of its several parts, an dits principle of operation susceptible of ready application to many ofthe locks now in common use.

Although I have herein described my im proved lock as arranged for twokeys only, it is plainly obvious that by simply adding one or more ofthe secondary bolts F to the same, one over the other, in a mannersubstantially similar to that explained for the supplementary bolt Fused in connection with the principal bolt G, the efficiency of the lockmay be greatly increased, as it can then be used for an additionalnumber of places or stations corresponding to such increase in thenumber of the secondary bolts.

In lieu of marking the tablet with the words Vay and Through, asexplained, the names of stations along the line of railway may besubstituted therefor-as, for instance, the names Atlanta and Chattanoogaof the Atlanta and Chattanooga railroad; and, furthermore, in lieu ofusing the lock for railroads alone, it may be adapted to other andvarious purposes-as, for instance, for use by express companies in thelocking up of valuables, either when in the office or to be transportedby them 5 and, in conclusion, itinay be here stated that the tablet maybe dispensed with; but I deem it best to use it, as it affords a moreready and easy mode of ascertaining the destination of the freight whichis locked up by the lock, the tablet itself being the indicator, whereasif the tablet were not used it would require the lock to be tried by allthe keys which are adapted to it in order to ascertain which of theseveral is the proper one to unlock it, and, consequently, thedestination of the freight.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The bolts G and M, in combination with the pawl S,springs I) and F, guide-plates aa, and lever I, all constructed,arranged, and operating in the manner and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with a lock constructed as described, of a tablet orplate, or its equivalent, when arranged with regard to the lockingmechanism ofthe lock, so as to be operated by the key or keys ofthelock, substantially in the manner and for the purposes specified.

FR. LAVVSHE.

Witnesses:

J. G. War'rnus, JOHN B. Prion.

